INQUEST.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume XXIV, Issue 2136, 19 March 1897, Page 2

INQUEST.

■ \n inqn«st was held on Monday litstvtat Dqeantar B>y, on the body,of Therjoas W«r»hbourne K«y;«o« of MrO,; P." Kay, Mr Qi H. Saxton was thti Coroner,, and t nonstable A. Hcnliv conduct id tha ease for \ <he police, oonsi«ted of Messrs i H W; Brid«;e (Chairman), 0. EaVes, O. , J. H. H<int»r, Qt R. W. Hamilton ', nnd W. Price. The following evidence ' jvaa tnken :— Charles Phillips'Kay, deposed—l Am a farm r residing in Deciliter B>y. The - d r ceased, Thomas Wn&hbonrne K»y t is my , son I saw him Ittt in good* health on \ Tuesday ,aat £ ho 9 h inst., aboat 8 a.m. Ha was here in Deo«nt a r'a Bay. I then en coeded «o Ch-Htohurrb, end returned ni) Si'nrdny mornirjf, the 13th ins*., and •*«w my son, Tho«n», lying in the front roo'n in bed. Ho w«n qeite consoionc, but \ppnsr t'y seriously ill.. Miss .Turner and. Miss Thorpe were attending on bim ; Miss Thorpe ia a trained pnrsa. I understood • the doctor bad been communicated with «nd be arrived later on the same ''day*.'' His usual health was good. I cannot ' account in any way for (he oause of bis death. Hefwas ag'd eight years, and'in the habit of attending regularly the Little Akaloa School. Annie Elizabeth Turner, sworn,' said—I \ have been residing in Mr Kay's houfo for somo days. On' Tnesday Ist-t Mr. K*y went to Uhriftjiiurph, leaving roe in oharge< The deoensed, Phoinas Wa«hbourne Kny, was left in my keeping, and was appa-> rently in good health on that day and up to 9.30 p.m. on the evening of Wednesday following. He re'ired to rest arjout'B p.mJ that evening, and at 9 30 p.m. he became reetlesp. He had n tittle porridge for breakfast on Thursday morning, and I put - him back t> b?d again. About 8 a.m. he complained of a little pain between his . shoulders.* I rubbed it with .rny^ha.nd-for , some little time. He took some'cornflour , between breakfast and dinner y he bod a' little pott toe for dinber; and cornfhJur durihg the ; and he had a little bread and jim for bis tea. i -He seemed all right for an houT or two ; ho bftd a r spaom of pain about 10 p.m., and several | slight ones dunntr the ni^ht—T sat up with j bim. About 630 n.m, on Friday I sent for Miss Thorpe to Mr Vy". Menziis., He , / w<ts better during Friday, and was under my observation tbe whole of the time. • During Friday evening he seempd worse, t and I sat up with him Friday night. We" i oommonicated with tha doctor on Friday afternoon, and got inttrno'ions how to act, . which were carried out, I last saw Thos. WashbourneKiy on Saturday about noon. , He was Still alive. c Bosa Stuait, sworn, esid— lam a prok fsßßional nurae. I arrived in Doi'anter's t Bty about noon on Saturday, the 13th inst., i and nursed the deceased. Ido not know what ho suffered from : tbe symptomsppurt r b ma in mind of strychnine poi-oniopr f be- • causa he was frothing t>t the mouth and twitobing ss i£ in bodily- pain. I re- ' mimed with bim till he died, nureiog him r the whol? time nnd carrying,out the I doctor's inductions. He. died at 1 a.m. " on Sunday, the 14th inst. i Jo'm Adolphus L ing. sworn, said—'l i aid f> dn y qualified registered medical . practitioner. On the sfterri"in of Friday i the 12th inttuit, I got ah> gram from Mr ■ Lo*i* K-»y, e;iving the inftin symptoms.' ' and QfkiDg ea<i t» prescribe for the dece.i*ed, Thomas Washhourne Kay. I wired hack instructions, asking for fol'er information and asking for a mest-eirger to be > cent for the medioinp. He arrived fct my I house about six o'clock in . the; , evening a litter from Nurs* Thorpe ; hut I - could not ditgnope the malady fr>m the ilpf-cript'on in the letfr. I c«in<s on S tmday br n quested, arid found th* de- > catted showing slight vibrillary twiiohiigt with intermilieni attacks of ppapm ' m rkid ri.ilty of 'he muffles of th nn'k, t fci li'istly tl-itched, froth esud--1 n g from one eide of the mouth, the head drawn dig! tly to the right hhoulder unpiia contracted, anc 1 the de , ceased complaining of the tongue being too !f>rgfi fir the month during the artn'kp of tp<» j in slight npi-tthottno-', »»nd the tun*o'flH ot th- attdoraen firoily con r*<"nd ; the fept we»« pointed and «h* Itiirrli* o'piiclip.} Thei>e et'acks came on ioterrn t'enily—about every quarter of an luur —and the pulee, temperature nnd reapiraiion ail increased. On my arrival lie was perspiring freely. I eicluded all the known diseases fr <m tho and came to the oonclus'on that i' was a cse of pii omnu. Abait an hour and n half after my arrival, the 6pasms turned to violent convulsions, and he had five attacks—dying in the fifth. Daring the course of treatment I washed out tbe bowel, obtaining partly liquid and partly solid matter, containing small seeds. I conducted an autopsy this day and fonnd the stomach small, empty, contracted and anaemic ; bowel empty, except for an enema I had given him dating tbe evening for nourishment. All the organs of ibe abi'omen were anemic. The heart was firmly contracted on the left side; left ventricle empty, right side engorged with blood : as also were the longs. lam unable to statethe can so 1 of death, hat the clinioal symptoms and' post mortem condition would appear in my opinion to be dne to convulsant poisoning. By Jury—lf the deceased had been* poisoned by strychnine or afsenic a fatal termination would .have ensued much sooner. The jury returned a verdict "That death bad resulted from poisoning, but that there was no evidence to show how deceased came by the poison, or what it was." A rider was, added, that the seeds obtained from the body of deceased be forwarded to the public analyst for his opinion as to ,what they arc, and whether pdsonous. ,